San Antonio’s New Economic Development Model

Last week, the San Antonio City Council approved the action plan that expands the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation’s scope of work to include business retention and expansion and serve as the lead on marketing San Antonio to new businesses. The City has agreed to invest $500,000 each year over the next five years toward these efforts, increasing EDF’s budget from $1.4 million to $1.9 million. We expect Bexar County to approve the action plan and make a similar investment in the new private / public partnership in the coming weeks.

San Antonio has seen significant growth and immense economic success even during the nation’s greatest economic challenges of the past few years. We have recruited or expanded the operations of such global leaders as Allstate, Medtronic, Toyota and most recently, the medical technology firm of Becton Dickinson and Company.

This new cooperative effort between the private and public sectors is going to grow San Antonio’s marketing capabilities. EDF will build on core industries where San Antonio maintains a strong competitive advantage, such as manufacturing / distribution, biosciences and healthcare, and financial and professional services, while strengthening our efforts to reach out to new, emerging business sectors such as green / sustainable energy, IT and cyber security, as well as international business.

San Antonio has the infrastructure and workforce to support these new industries, while maintaining our leadership position among our core businesses. As the economy rebounds, EDF will be able to handle more prospects and work more effectively with businesses that are already here to help them grow. It’s about generating more new jobs for San Antonio, and keeping the jobs we have.

This partnership allows the city’s economic development efforts to be more closely coordinated between EDF, the City and County even as we maintain the confidentiality that is so vital to prospects. EDF’s executive committee will now be comprised of 13 members, including three officers (Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary / Treasurer) the Past Chair, three members at large, CPS Energy’s CEO, City Manager Sheryl Sculley, Bexar County Economic Development Director David Marquez, and immediate Past Chairs of the three largest Chambers of Commerce.

The EDF model, which has brought nearly 90,000 new jobs to San Antonio since 1975, is the right framework to manage this effort. As business people, we know how to talk to and recruit prospects. We look forward to bringing even more opportunity to San Antonio through this new partnership.